THE SHELBURNE METEORITE. 



BY OLIVER CUMMINGS FARRINGTON. 



The Shelburne meteorite fell about three miles from Shelburne, 

 Ontario, at 8 p. m. August 13, 1904. Two stones were obtained 

 from the fall, one of which weighed 12.6 kg. (27^ lbs.) and the other 

 5.6kg. (12^ lbs.). The latter of these stones came into the pos- 

 session of his Museum, where it is preserved under the Museum 

 number, Me. 606. 



The general phenomena of the fall and the larger stone have 

 been described by Borgstrom** (Trans. Royal Astronomical Society 

 of Canada, 1904, pp. 69-94). It remains to describe the smaller stone 

 and give some additional general observations regarding the fall. 

 The distance between the points of fall of the two stones was about 

 three-quarters of a mile and the direction between them a southeast- 

 northwest one, the smaller stone being at the southeast. The latter 

 stone fell within eighteen inches of the rear porch of the resi- 

 dence of Mr. John Shields. The phenomena of the fall, as stated 

 by Mr. Shields to the writer, were that sounds like a muffled 

 drum-beat were heard by various members of the family who were 

 in the house at the time, followed by a dull thud at the rear of the 

 house. A man at the barn, two or three rods west of the house, 

 also saw a momentary light. Mr. Shields' impression from the 

 noise was that an old shed in the rear of the house, shown in Fig. 

 1, had fallen. He accordingly investigated to see if this were true. 

 The shed proved to be intact, but a hole newly made was noticed 

 in the soil near it. It was also noticed that the side of the house 

 south of the hole was splashed .with mud. No one investigated 

 farther at the time, but on the morning of the second day (August 

 15) Mr. Shields dug into the hole and at a depth of eighteen inches* 

 found the stone here to be described. A portion of a burdock 

 leaf, which had evidently been carried into the hole with it, lay 

 under the stone. This showed no evidence of charring or burning. 



♦(4m. or 16 inches a -cording to Borgstrom, but judgment might well differ as to the exact 

 depth.) 



